In the End
by Yami-sama42
Summary: Rehash of the end of Sonic Adventure 2. In the end, they defeated the Biolizard and saved the world. In the end, it was too much strain on the two of them. In the end, Shadow was gone. (slight Sonadow undertone, possibly ignorable)


Hey there guys. I've been dead for far too long, haven't I? Well anyway, I wrote this here story about three weeks to a month ago (maybe even longer) and I've had computer troubles AGAIN (as if I don't get them enough anyway) so the only way I have some thing is because of My Writing Spot and Dropbox. (Oh, and Hikari, because she's my confidant.) So anyway there's this. I love this, it's great. I wrote it quickly too, so yeah.

Rating: eh… let's go T just because of reasons  
Warnings/Pairings: There's some apparent Sonadow undertones that snuck their way in here without my consent. Hopefully, even if you don't like it, you can ignore it because when I started writing this, it was not intended to be a Sonadow. It was just _supposed_ to be a written adaptation of the end of Sonic Adventure 2 because everyone does it and everyone does it differently and I wanted to do one too damnit. Oh, and there's probably cursing. It's also probably a little OOC, but for the most part it's in character.

_I've never fought the Biolizard/FinalHazard in Sonic Adventure 2 (but I HAVE fought the Biolizard in Generations 3DS), so frankly, I don't know what the fight entails. (That stupid Canon's Core section is kicking my ass.) I looked up a video and decided it wasn't interesting enough and so decided to add in some details to liven it up. However, I'll try to keep it similar._

**In the End**

All around them was inky blackness, littered with muddled diamonds and a blinding brightness from somewhere off in the distance. The light encompassed them and exposed every move they made yet no warmth penetrated their pelts as they darted around the Space Colony ARK, a space station that housed scientists and military personnel alike over fifty years ago. Sonic the Hedgehog, worldwide phenomena and enigma alike and Shadow the Hedgehog, his dark colored doppelganger and object of GUN hatred were currently engaged in a deadly game of chicken as Chaos Energies coursed through their bodies as they tried to defeat the monster of the ARK from pulling it into and thus destroying the planet.

"It's too strong! We're not gonna make it!" Sonic shouted over to his silvery counterpart. His scarlet eyes flashed with a deep fear as he felt the Chaos Energies coursing through his body, a fiery golden aura surrounding him in a halo of power. He clenched one hand into a fist, the other making a swiping motion to throw a small ball of bright yellow energy at the giant beast that had attached itself on the front of the ARK. Determination and anxiety outlined his every move, the hedgehog himself disturbingly aware of the consequences should they fail. He swooped to the left, moving to a lower part of the area to regain a bit of his stamina before diving up with another burst of energy.

"Just keep hitting it!" Shadow yelled back, his crimson eyes burning with such an intensity that Sonic was instantly compelled into doing just as he said. The striped one was furious in his power and set in his intent. He had promised Maria, promised himself, and promised Sonic he would do whatever it took to eliminate this threat to the world. His determination gave him the strength to continue, to fear nothing, to keep trying. He linked eyes with Sonic, telling him with his expressions that they _were_ going to make it and damnit, they _were_ going save everyone!

Sonic took a deep breath to steel his nerves and giving a nod to Shadow, he murmured out, "We're going to win. Shadow's right." Furrowing his brow in concentration, he pulled his aura closer to himself and shot off towards the monstrous creature in a full on bodily tackle. He rammed his shoulder and elbow into the large being, the thing crying out in pain and annoyance before he was thrown back, his legs kicking out at the last second to send a Chaos Spear at the beast, Sonic mildly surprised he'd been able to pull off such an attack in the first place.

The attack struck true and elicited a pained cry as it lashed out in anger. Sonic, still puzzling over the technicalities, fell victim to the zap of a laser, the white hot beam hitting him square on the shoulder. He could literally feel the fur on his arm, chest, and jaw sizzle as it was struck, the Chaos energy infused within the blow cancelling out most of the protective qualities of his Super form. Falling back with a cry, he saw Shadow zooming in from the other side, dealing a harsh wound to the monster while it was distracted. Chancing a look down at himself, he saw that the area where he was hit was raw and dotted with spots of red between blackened tufts of golden fur, some of the hairs even reverting to their natural blue color as their roots were destroyed.

Grimacing, he clutched the affected spot, teeth grinding together in pain. He flew off to the side lopsidedly, taking a brief moment of respite to gather his wits. He floated closer to the ARK, leaning slightly against a protruding section that was tucked a little off to the side of the beast. Blinking his scarlet eyes several times to focus his vision again, he took a deep breath, eyes falling closed. When they opened again, there was Shadow, the eyes once smoldering with a burning passion now shining with something akin to concern and a tiny spark of fear. Sonic shook his head; Shadow would never show such emotions to _him_, the 'Faker' and his rival.

"Sonic, are you alright?" the other hedgehog asked, vision focusing on the red-orange orbs of the other before shifting onto the injury. By this point, blood had welled up under the skin on the entire raw area, threatening to spill, while the skin nearby had taken to bruising, nasty blue-purple spots already visible. Brows furrowing, Shadow reached a hand for Sonic's, trying to get a better view of the wound.

The normally blue hedgehog reacted quickly, avoiding eye contact and he ducked away from Shadow and the ARK, face close to lighting up, confusion and embarrassment filling Sonic. "I'm fine, just a little tired," Sonic muttered, kicking off of nothing and darting for the experimental prototype. The orange lizard was now shooting lasers all over the place, their beams darting around sporadically, a sphere of dark red orbs circling the beast like a gridded shield. Skilled eyes examined the dangers, classifying them by threat level and a fast brain computing the quickest and safest route to the creature.

Shadow, on the other hand, nearly growled when Sonic evaded his concern and spun around quickly when the other slipped past him. Fisting his hand, he bared his teeth, giving his head a vigorous shake to rid himself of these unwanted feelings before refocusing on the threat in front of them. They were running out of time, he realized as he saw that streaks of fire were beginning to from around the edges of the space station. "Sonic!" he shouted to his companion, the slightly smaller hedgehog glancing back at him with wide, frightened eyes. "We need to hit it at the same time! That should defeat it and give us a few seconds to prepare!"

"Right!" the other called back, determination flaring within him once more, his muscles burning as he began to tire and tingling with the familiar sensation of so much foreign Chaos Energy. Summoning his strength, he took off for the beast, weaving through the obstacles, his counterpart following closely. Breaking even, the two slammed into the prototype with massive force, the dying echoes of the beast making Sonic's ears ring. "We did it, Shadow! We beat it!" Sonic half turned to look at Shadow, his crimson eyes half lidded.

"It's not over yet. We still need to stop the ARK from crashing to the planet," the normally black hedgehog muttered, barely sparing his companion a glance. Sonic's brows furrowed for a split second before it was gone. "We need to perform Chaos Control and set the colony in its rightful place."

"Then let's do it, Shadow!" Sonic told him, already starting to build up the rest of his Super energy to assist in the monumental challenge. "If we give it all of our Chaos Energy, we should be able to do it!"

Something in this sentence perked Shadow's ears as he quietly murmured, "_All_ of our energy?" Closing his eyes in a brief moment of thought, he took a deep breath. When his eyes opened again, the bright red irises glowing with inner power, he looked more determined than ever.

Sonic quietly watched this transformation, eyes widening slightly at the miniscule display of power. "Shadow…?" he whispered, mezmorized.

Shadow made no vocal reply, instead opting to blink once before giving a slight incline of the head. Without looking, he grabbed onto his right wrist, removing the golden band that was there before doing the same to the opposite wrist. Leaning slightly, he unclasped the two bands from his ankles before handing three of them to Sonic, locking the fourth around the other's right wrist. Letting the power seep through his being, he sighed, easily allowing himself to feel reenergized, the full extent of his Chaos powers pulsing through him like blood.

"Shadow wha-?"

"Don't lose these," Shadow cut him off, eyes blazing as he looked back at the other, crimson bleeding into scarlet, the red-orange orbs filled with confusion and, if he wasn't mistaken, a twinge of panic as if he somehow knew what was going on. "They are my Inhibitor Rings. Now, on three."

"Shadow, ple-"

"One…"

"I…" Sonic's eyes grew impossibly large as he gripped the Rings tighter, the one connected to his arm flaring brightly in response to his emotions and Chaos Energy.

"Two…" Shadow ignored him as he gathered every last scrap of his energy to focus it into the Chaos Control.

Sonic grit his teeth and pulled all of his energy in, feeling a strange tugging sensation on his wrist that he knew had something to do with that Ring.

"Three!" At that word, the combined gathered Energy between the two of them was expelled as it rushed to cover the entire ARK. "Chaos Control!" A great flash of light and the colony was gone, the two golden hedgehogs with it.

Back in its rightful place, the space station looked innocent enough, not even lightly singed from the attempted entry into the atmosphere. Sonic opened his eyes from where he'd been forced to close them, a small grin breaking out on his face as he saw that there was no longer any danger to anyone. "Shadow, we did it! Mobius is safe! We can go home! Sha-" Sonic turned to share in this moment of triumph with his fellow hero when he noticed something was wrong. The white-yellow fur of the other was looking darker than it did not a minute earlier, his body looking exhausted as he took, deep, steady, labored breaths. "Sh-shadow? What's wrong, buddy?"

The other glanced up at his voice, blearily detecting that slight hint of panic that colored his tone. Crimson eyes blinked slowly, owlishly as their owner attempted to pull himself together. "I did as I promised, Maria…" he muttered, clenching one hand into a fist, the other dangling uselessly as his side. Sonic's eyes widened again, wonderment and awe drifting through the emotions in their red-orange depths. Before he could utter a word, Shadow continued, voice drifting off softly at the end. "I did as you wanted and gave them their chance at happiness…"

"Shadow, what do you- what are you-" he was cut off as Shadow suddenly began to drop fast and hard like a rock in a body of water. "Shadow!" Sonic exclaimed, the fist holding the Inhibitor Rings going white-knuckled as he shot off after the rapidly darkening hedgehog. Diving down, he grabbed the weakened one by the wrist and pulled him closer to the ARK, the planet's gravity less pulling the further away they got. "Don't worry, Shadow! I'll get you to the ARK, no problem!" Sonic told him, but somehow he knew he wouldn't be able to. If he could see, he'd noticed that the very tips of his quills had began to fade from golden yellow to cobalt blue, making a very interesting green color in between. "We're gonna make it… we're gonna… I'll… save you," he ground out, starting to feel the effects drainage as he pulled the dead weight that was the other closer to the colony.

"Sonic," Shadow growled out, a quiet intensity in his voice, a voice stronger than what the Super-going-normal hedgehog was expecting stopped him, his grip tightening as he turned slightly. "Stop. Listen to me," Shadow growled out, his red eyes boring into the other's. "This is it for me. I've done my part and I've helped you save the world. Now I have to go, do you hear me? I've fulfilled my promise and now my time is up. I'm going to join Maria wherever she may be," the by now fully black and red hedgehog told the other, speaking more in these few seconds than he had the entire time the two had known each other. "There's nothing left for me here; I'm ready to die."

"But Shadow!" Sonic exclaimed, eyes going wide, irises going a strange yellow-gray color as their natural emerald green bled into super charged red-orange. "You-you have to live! You're a hero! Wouldn't Maria want you to live, to see the planet that you saved for your promise?" Sonic questioned, hysteria seeping into his tone.

"That is of no consequence. Why should I be able to explore the planet that she merely observed?" the dark one muttered, lids falling half closed as he dangled in his rival's grasp. "It would be wrong of me."

"But… you don't have to _die_…" Sonic trailed off when he felt his eyes prickle with emotion. He shook his head, dismissing the unshed tears as a response to his growing panic. "There's still people who need you, Shadow! That's why you have to come back with me, back to the ARK, back to _Mobius_…" His body was unconsciously drifting downward, inching away from the space station.

Sonic didn't notice; Shadow did. "No, Sonic, _you_ need to live. You have friends and even total strangers that depend on you, Mobian and human alike," he muttered, easing himself into the correct position he needed to do what he was going to do. "You need to go back to them, Faker," he told him almost affectionately.

"But… but _I_ need you, damnit," Sonic grumbled, looking away, unable to keep in visual contact with his counterpart, trails of wet liquid starting down his face. He felt his face heat up.

Shadow sighed before trailing a hand down the side of Sonic's face. "I'm sorry, Sonic. Farewell, Faker." With that, he grasped his hand onto the one holding him, ripping his arm away and using his feet to push Sonic back up and towards the ARK, the action sending him back on a collision course to the planet below.

"_No! Shadow!_" Sonic shouted, head snapped forwards again, skin buzzing from the other's touch, panic and notes of hysteria coloring his tone. He set to take off for the other again before he finally realized he was almost back to being his normal self. Squeezing his eyes shut regretfully, he whispered the only two words that he could force from his mouth at the moment, heart aching and emotions running wild. "Chaos Control…" A flash of light, similar to the one earlier but not as bright or as massive, and he was gone.

Several nanoseconds later, he was back on the ARK, once again blue furred and green eyed, the Chaos Emeralds appearing around him for a moment before they winked out of existence, presumably scattering themselves back around Mobius. For almost a minute, Sonic just leaned against the wall of whatever hallway he'd managed to warp to, eyes wide and nearly traumatized by what he'd just seen, eyes still wet. At that time he hoped to Chaos that no one had managed to hear his arrival and show up around any corners, but his luck held true and he remained alone… without Shadow. He sighed and slid down onto the floor, gazing at nothing but a point only he could see. Shadow, the dark, mysterious and brooding hedgehog that had swooped into his life and changed the way he looked at things was now gone, supposedly burnt upon reentry into the atmosphere. The only things he had to remember him by were his Inhibitor Rings…

Sonic's head shot up at this thought. Glancing down quickly, he saw his memory confirmed; in his grip was three of the golden bands while the fourth was still secured around his wrist, firm and unmoving. Looping the fingers of his right hand through the rings, he attempted to find the give point that would allow him to remove the Inhibitor, frowning a bit when he didn't find one. Simply sliding it off wouldn't work as it was too narrow to fit his hand through and the rings were made of a rather sturdy material. Sighing more in aggravation, he decided to leave it, instead opting to rise to his feet and wipe the tear stain from his face, giving an involuntary sniff.

He felt nothing by this point, his mind on autopilot and his emotions on lockdown, the memory of Shadow falling to his death forever searing itself in his consciousness. He set aside any and all of his negative feelings for the incident and locked them in the back of his mind, choosing not to acknowledge the negativities and instead forcing them into that battered bottle in his mind, the same bottle that held every repressed emotion he'd ever felt and the memories and thoughts he'd rather not deal with. He knew it wasn't good to hide those kinds of feelings, the consequences almost dangerous bordering on self-harming, but his personality commanded that he not show weakness, not show how devastated he felt at seeing someone die in front of him, someone he _knew_, someone that could have turned out to be a great friend.

Swallowing past the lump in his throat, he couldn't muster up the strength to even give his best fake smile for when he finally arrived to inform his friends that he'd survived, something he felt that he should be sharing with Shadow. The two of them had saved the world together, and yet Sonic was the only one returning. He felt shamed and humbled at once, feeling as if he'd done nothing useful after Shadow's sacrifice. The ebony had used every last once of power he had available in his body, even going so far that it was deadly to his well being and yet still performed the Chaos Control just because he'd made a promise he his oldest and very first friend. Sonic on the other hand had nowhere near the amount of Chaos Energy ready for instant use and in addition, he'd also gotten hurt in the fight beforehand.

Reaching his hand up to gingerly prod his left shoulder, he hissed as the touch seemingly brought his nerves back to life, the entire wound burning with a dull but stabbing pain. The fur was still charred and the skin still raw; small spots of dried blood had caked on the open areas, grotesque and, if he was completely honest, still slightly tingling with Chaos Energy residue. Grimacing, his removed his hand, inwardly scolding himself before he walked forward, eyes and ears scanning the hallway for any signs of his friends and enemy.

He didn't have to search long before he came to a stop outside a door that had sounds coming from the other side. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he stepped up, the doors sliding open automatically. Immediately, Tails and Amy spun around, their faces lighting up as they saw who was outside the room. Sonic slowly made his way into the room, casting a glance before he turned his eyes back to the floor.

"You did it, Sonic!" Tails exclaimed, beaming up at his adoptive older brother, blue eyes shining. "The ARK is no longer in any danger of hitting the planet and that experimental prototype is no more!" As he spoke, everyone else turned around, relieved expressions adorning most. Knuckles unclenched his hand where he'd had it in a white knuckled fist and Rouge's expression became far less serious and worried. Eggman just grunted, not willing to show that even _he_ was happy to see his nemesis in one piece.

"Oh, my darling Sonic! You're such an amazing hero!" Amy crooned, clasping her hands together excitedly, hearts in her eyes. She made to grab at him but he avoided her expertly, dipping his head as she came for his neck and stepping back as her body followed. He barely contained a sigh as he turned his head from her slightly. Amy huffed and spun on her heels, but Tails noticed his downcast expression.

"Sonic… are you alright?" the kitsune asked him, brow furrowed as he came up beside the blue hedgehog. Sonic inwardly grumbled about Tails' attentiveness as he forced a grin on his face.

"I'll be fine, Tails, don't you worry," he replied, unwilling to completely lie to his little brother. "But…" he trailed off, grin faltering as Tails looked around him for something – or some_one_. "Shadow… he didn't make it." Everyone froze, Rouge more than everyone else, as Sonic lifted a hand and showed off the Inhibitor Rings, everyone noticing the one around Sonic's wrist as well. "He…" he swallowed harshly, fighting to keep his eyes from betraying him with that accursed liquid. "He said that he'd fulfilled his promise to Maria and that he didn't have any more reason to live… He fell back to the planet after his Super form ran out of energy…"

Rouge growled as she stalked away from the viewing window, past Knuckles and up to Sonic, danger flashing in her eyes. "So what you're saying is that you were _right there_ and Shadow _died_? You let him fall but you didn't _stop him_? Didn't _save him!_?"

"I _tried_!" Sonic shouted, surprising them all. "I _tried_, okay?" He growled as he faced her fully, Rouge faltered, eyes widening a fraction at Sonic's reaction as well as the emotion that ran through his face. "We had just finished fighting that stupid lizard when we realized that we needed to do something to stop the ARK," he began, voice significantly more controlled. He avoided eye contact as he stepped around the bat to look through the wall of windows. "Sh-shadow said that the only way to stop it would be using Chaos Control so I said that we'd better focus all of our energy towards using it." He paused as he realized something before plowing on, hand fisting around the Inhibitor Rings. "Apparently, he took that to mean he could completely drain himself of his energy so he took these off," he lifted the golden bands, "gave them to me, and then we used Chaos Control."

He fell back into his memories, trapped with his next few lines. "I'd never seen that much raw energy on anyone or anything before, ever. It was like everything about him had become a hundred times brighter and he literally glowed with his power," he remembered, voice soft. "After we'd set the ARK back in its rightful spot, he…" He took a deep breath. "He said that his time was up and that he had done just as Maria had wanted him to do because he'd given everyone a chance at happiness. He started to drop, but I grabbed him and stopped him. I tried to pull back towards the ARK, I really did, but I was running out of Chaos Energy, too, and he stopped me before I could really do anything. He… said some things," he explained, not willing to divulge exactly what was exchanged, "before he shoved me away and fell towards the planet again."

He bowed his head, unable to keep looking out. "I couldn't stop him, I didn't have enough power to save both of us anymore…" he trailed off again, eyes squeezing shut, "so I used what I had left to Chaos Control back here."

Everyone in the room had different reactions to this story. Rouge looked as if she were struck, eyes wide and body frozen. Knuckles was grimacing, arms crossed, wondering how Sonic was taking it and cursing bad luck that Shadow had to die right in front of the blue one. Eggman looked intrigued yet disappointed that his grandfather's creation hadn't survived, yet inwardly hoping his suspicions were correct. Amy looked shocked for a number of different reasons, the first one being why _her Sonic_ would risk his life for someone like _Shadow_ who always seemed to be in a bad mood and was always trying to kill her beloved _Sonic_. Tails on the other hand, was mildly shocked, yes, but this feeling died out as concern for Sonic and how he might be feeling over something like this won over.

Taking several steps forward, Tails reached out a hand for the blue one. "Sonic, are you alright?" Worried blue eyes scanned the hedgehog, eyes falling onto the injury as he barely avoiding touching it. "You're hurt…" he mumbled, retracting his hand.

"He's hurt! Oh, _Sonic_ that's terrible! What happened, why are you injured?" Amy was upon them in second, tackling Sonic into a bear hug in without hesitation, one hand grabbing onto his left shoulder, the wounded one.

Sonic cried out in pain, jolting the occupants of the room out of their individual stupors as they turned to look at the hedgehogs. Amy jumped back in surprise, eyes flashing as if she had taken offence at the agonized sound that had escaped Sonic's mouth, the three Inhibitor Rings he held in his grasp slipping, one escaping to land on the ground with a light chiming sound. Tails was quick to step in and retrieve it, wary of who else was in the room despite the circumstances. Gently moving Amy aside, the fox knelt in front of where his older brother had fallen to his knees, face distorted in pain.

"Are you alright, Sonic?" Tails asked quietly, tilting his head to get a good viewing angle of Sonic's face.

Eyes squeezed shut, Sonic nodded. "I was hit by one of the lasers the prototype was shooting off. It hurts like hell," he muttered, taking deep breaths. He glanced at his injury again, taking note that it now seemed irritated as well as raw.

"We need to get you back home and get that taken care of," Tails told him, standing. Once on his feet, he helped Sonic to his and led him towards Knuckles, the echidna crossing his arms and frowning in concern. Taking the other two rings from Sonic gently, he passed them all to the Guardian, the golden bands sitting harmlessly in his large hands. "Hold onto these until we get back to the Workshop, okay?" Knuckles nodded and started out, Rouge looking after him for a moment before following, her whole being distressed. Eggman was nowhere to be seen.

"Can you let me have a minute alone?" Sonic asked quietly, looking down at the kit.

Tails looked him in the eyes for a long moment before nodding firmly and letting go of him. Stepping back, he told him, "The docking area is just down the hall from here. That's where the rest if us will be when you're ready to go." Turning around, he walked out, shooting a, "Don't take too long," over his shoulder.

Once he was alone, Sonic dropped to his knees again beside the window wall, forehead resting on the cold glass. "I know this was your decision but I feel like I've let you down," he muttered, staring down at the planet. "I feel like I've failed… Just like I failed those people that died because of Chaos…" Teeth clenched and hands fisted, he rose to his feet, emotions threatening to spill down his face. Taking a deep breath to suppress his feelings, his head lifted, posture confident, while inside he was a mess. Relaxing slightly, he stared out the window at nothing, voice soft. "Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog."

He turned around and left to join the others. Shadow's death wouldn't be in vain.

_Yeah, it's kind of open ended. I kinda wanna keep this going, but Hikari keep telling me that I should probably let it go and be over But I'll leave it "In Progress" just in case. If anyone WANTS to see it continued, I'll try to keep it going. Maybe I'll leave this one alone and anything afterwards as a sequel to keep it separate. Maybe, who knows._

_Also, if anyone wants to keep up with me or ask me questions or talk to me or anything, you guys can catch me on tumblr. My username is AmazingSuperiority so to go to my blog, type that in followed by "tumblr. com" except without the space. Your browser should fill in the rest of the url. Follow me or ask questions if you like, starting on October 7__th__ or late October 6__th__ (I say thing because tumblr's doing maintenance on the 6__th__. D:)_

_So anyway, please review. I'd love to hear what you think and I love getting reviews. Tell me what you like, didn't like, and how I could improve. Thanks guys. :)_


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